Michael Gates, the Republican candidate for California attorney general, has condemned a provocative ad from the Steve Hilton campaign depicting two young women in a dark bedroom suggestively…voting for Steve Hilton.
The ad has received potentially millions of views on X and thousands have reposted it, either praising, condemning or being weirded out by it.
Republican Sonja Shaw, who is running for the (technically nonpartisan) state superintendent, condemned the ad directly on X: “Shame on you, @SteveHiltonx, @CAGOP and @CorrinRankin , for reposting and cheering this creepy, weird, disturbing garbage on. This is a clear example of exactly why good people are walking away from the Republican Party. As a mother and someone who has fought to protect the innocence of children, this crosses a line. We have lost our way. Embarrassing.”
As harsh as that is, the most significant criticism so far has come from the aforementioned Gates, who has been a part of the “Golden Ticket” that links Hilton, Gates, lieutenant governor candidate Gloria Romero and controller candidate Herb Morgan.
Gates issued a lengthy press release condemning his fellow Golden Ticket’er. “Californians deserve a serious alternative to decades of failed leadership in Sacramento—including the inappropriate sexualization of young people. Steve Hilton’s ‘Just Try It’ video is an example of precisely that,” the statement reads. He goes on to note that he wasn’t consulted about the ad, had nothing to do with it and argued Hilton’s ad “is deeply out of touch with the values and expectations of California families.”
“Emphatically, I denounce the use of young women’s sexuality as a political tool, and I denounce the undermining of the sanctity of the relationship between parents and their children,” he declared.
It’s all quite the development considering Hilton’s increasingly desperate play to say and do anything to close the gap with Democrat Xavier Becerra, even going so far as to bizarrely claim that Becerra “legalized sex with minors.” It’s also quite the timing for a political rupture on the right considering ballots are going out, and in some places are already out.
Now, to be sure there are people defending the ad as a way of reaching people who won’t ordinarily check out a Republican political ad. Depending on your sensibilities, the ad can be described as creative and amusing, more so than a standard political ad. Sure, sure.
But it all serves as a reminder that social conservatives remain a core force in the Republican coalition. Hilton took a chance despite that and now he got some GOP infighting out of it. Time will tell whether they blow this up further or if it becomes just another internal fight Republicans obsess over after they lose in November.
I say again: no wonder California is a one-party state.
Sal Rodriguez can be reached at salrodriguez@scng.com